Microsoft Office can be expensive: The standalone versions of the software, which are becoming increasingly rare as Microsoft grows Office 365 and Microsoft Office Professional 2016, start around $150 and grow from there.

Either way, it’s a lot to spend, but there is some good news. If you’re not a power user and don’t need all the latest, premium features, you can save a lot of cash money on Microsoft Office. How does free sound? Let’s take a look at your options!

We’ve rechecked all the links as of the time of publishing this update to ensure that they’re fully working. However, before you proceed, bear the following points in mind:

Once trial versions expire, they will revert back to reduced functionality, essentially becoming file viewers. To get them to work again would require you to reinstall your Windows operating system – using a restore point or any similar image-based solution is unlikely to work.

You will not need a product key to install the application but you will need one to activate the product.

After you get a Microsoft ID, you will be able to activate the applications should you want to own the products outright with the product key card being the cheapest and usually fastest way of doing it.

When this article was first published, it after the release of Office 2016 updaed 2017 version when you could download a preview version to try for free. Obviously post-release, that isn’t the case anymore – and there’s no trial version of Office 2016. Therefore if you want to try out Office for free, you’ll need to dip into Office 365 (see above).

However, the below links we provided with the original article still work to download the installer for Office 2016 (this then grabs the Office 2016 setup files on-demand). Of course, be aware that obviously you will need a product key to successfully install the suite.

This is the RTM/final version that can be used for 60 days without any limitations (i.e. it is a trial version). The suite includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, Infopath, Visio viewer, Publisher and Lync. Note that the linked files below are reasonably large downloads; 667MB and 769MB respectively. (And should you wish to read it, you’ll find our review of Office 2013 here).

Download Free Microsoft Office 2013 Professional Plus 32-bit/x86

Download Free Microsoft Office 2013 Professional Plus 64-bit/x64

Office 365

If Office 365 is what you’re after, be aware that there is no offline installer for it. As is the case with Skype, you will get a tiny package that will then download the actual application.

Note that the trial period is only 30 days, and also a valid Microsoft account is a prerequisite for downloading the initial application. If you haven’t got one, you’ll need to set one up. You’ll also need to provide payment info to partake of the free trial. Check these links for Office 365 Home, Office 365 Personal or Office 365 ProPlus.

Office for Mac 2011, Office 2010 and Office 2007

Microsoft quietly took down all its download servers that used to house hundreds of ISO files, many of them on Digitalriver. This means that you won’t be able to download offline installers legally for Office 2010 and Office 2007.

As such, there are no legal ways of providing a direct download route to Office 2007 – the only way you can get a download copy is by using the linked Office 2007 download URL for free and entering your product key which will then pull the qualifying Office 2007 product.

For Office 2010, if you have been issued with a PIN post-purchase (on a product key card), you can download it directly from the getmicrosoftkey website.